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LAST UPDATE | 28 Feb
THE NUMBER OF people living in emergency accommodation increased last month to 15,286, a new record high.
According to the latest figures from the Department of Housing, 10,683 adults and 4,603 children were in emergency accommodation in January.
It represents an increase of 422 people compared to last month, which was the first decrease since a record high of 15,199 people was hit in November.
The 15,286 figure represents a 13% yearly increase on January last year.
The statistics do not include people sleeping rough, those that may be couch-surfing or homeless in hospitals or prisons, or those who are in shelter for asylum seekers or domestic violence centres.
It comes after the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has revealed that the number of homes that commenced building in January was 1,178, a fall of 65% on the same month last year.
It also follows comments made by Housing Minister James Browne this morning, where he appeared to roll back on a Government commitment to end homelessness by 2030.
Browne’s predecessor and Fianna Fáil colleague, Darragh O’Brien, set an ambition to eradicate homelessness through the Housing For All strategy.
However, speaking today, the new minister said that he would not be making a similar pledge.
“The only promise I ever make is to do the very best I can. I don’t want anybody in homelessness, we want to ensure that we can get to that point but it’s really challenging. Supply is the only real solution to ending homelessness.”
He added: “The commitment is to get that homeless figure down as quickly as possible, but there won’t be a specific timeline in relation to it.”
Pressed on whether there was no longer a pledge to end homelessness, Browne said: “The commitment from me to end homelessness, that’s where we want to get to.
In terms of dates or anything like that, we are examining all of that and how we can get there. But projections and dates aren’t going to deliver a single apartment.
Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said the latest figures represent “a significant, but not unexpected” setback following the positive decline in family homelessness before Christmas.
“With recent troubling world events, it is understandable to feel a sense of helplessness, however, as a nation and society, Ireland has the control to significantly change homelessness for the better.”
He said the charity met with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Housing Minister James Browne in the last fortnight to outline how new social homes should be leveraged to genuinely assist the most vulnerable.
“Ireland is a wealthy country with a surplus that many nations envy, and homelessness should not be seen as something we must accept. It’s important to remember that homelessness can be prevented and ended with the right policies.”
“While these figures leave us even further away from the target of ending homelessness by 2030, it is crucial that Government does not let just give up, it is still possible to turn things around and achieve significant goals like ending long term homelessness by 2030.”
The Simon Communities of Ireland has said it has written to the Taoiseach requesting “an urgent meeting”
“The alarming rise in homelessness is a glaring indictment of our failure to implement effective prevention strategies. These individuals, children, and families are trapped in a crisis with no end in sight,” executive director Ber Grogan said.
“We have written to An Taoiseach requesting an urgent meeting in light of growing uncertainty around Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs). Speculation about their potential removal is fueling anxiety among those already in precarious housing situations.”
Grogan said that recent studies by the Residential Tenancies Board demonstrate that RPZs “have had a stabilising effect in certain areas, and data confirms that the number of landlords is rising, not falling”.
“These facts must inform any policy decisions moving forward. We cannot continue to watch families slip into homelessness while thousands remain stuck in emergency accommodation.
“We need decisive action in terms of stronger prevention policies, immediate housing support, and long-term solutions, to break this cycle and ensure people can secure permanent homes.”
Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne has called on the government to develop a family homelessness strategy and reintroduce a no-fault eviction ban.
“Last year, 4,000 new families presented as homeless, a 23 per cent increase on the 2023 figures. A total of 906 families have been in emergency accommodation longer than one year, and 417 for over two years,” Hearne said.
These unacceptably high numbers continue to be a stain on society and are a damning indictment of failed housing policy by successive governments.
He accused Housing Minister James Browne of being “mostly missing in action” since taking up his brief and said previous governments “have allowed the issue of family homelessness to become normalised”.
“This is something we should refuse to accept, which is why I will constantly challenge the government on this issue.
“Homelessness is a human tragedy. It should not be tolerated in any properly functioning society.”
Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD accused the Housing Minister of “throwing in the towel on ending long-term homelessness by 2030″.
“This government has neither the will nor the wherewithal to achieve this important target,” he said, adding that there will be continued increases in homelessness “and an ever greater number of people experiencing the trauma of prolonged emergency accommodation stays” without radical change.
Labour’s housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan called today’s figures “a national disgrace” and said they “confirm what we have long feared: the housing crisis under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is spiralling further out of control”.
“It is deeply alarming that, just as these shocking figures emerge, Housing Minister James Browne appears to be stepping back from official targets to end homelessness by 2030,” Sheehan said.
“While he insists ending homelessness remains a goal, he now claims that merely setting deadlines won’t help. Is the Minister throwing in the towel before he has even begun?”
Sheehan said the State “has the deep pockets and the power to fix this crisis” and called for the ramping up of public housing delivery, stronger protections for renters and investment in the State-led construction of public housing at scale.
With reporting from Mairead Maguire and Press Association
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